All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has said that President Goodluck Jonathan should no longer be taken serious whenever he vows that he would end Boko Haram soon even as the sect, under his Presidency, grew from mere armed delinquents to hard fighting group.
A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign organization, Mallam Garba Shehu said that the claim by President Jonathan during his campaign visit to Maiduguri, capital of Borno State and hotbed of the insurgency that he would deal with the menace of the terrorists looks more like a joke or mere talk designed for the occasion of the campaign event.
“President Jonathan has been at the helm of affairs in Nigeria for more than five years. During this time, the Boko Haram has transformed from a group of armed delinquents to an active fighting group or movement without the government headed by President Jonathan able to contain it. It is childish for the same person to say that he would deal with a group that became a monster under his watch.”
Garba Shehu advised President Jonathan to stop talking about dealing with Boko Haram as he has clearly shown little appreciation and leadership in the area of national security.
“Rather, he should join eager and long-suffering Boko Haram victims across the nation and other well-meaning Nigerians to ensure that General Muhammadu Buhari emerges victorious in the February 14 poll to deal with Boko Haram, as well as unemployment and widespread official corruption, two other vices ravaging our nation under his watch.
“If President Jonathan and his party want to be true to Nigerians, it is for them to acknowledge that to deal with Boko Haram, and the wider national security issues it has thrown up over the years is within the scope of his opponent, General Buhari, because the latter has travelled similar road in the past with distinction when the nation’s security and well-being was endangered as it has been in the last four years since Boko Haram became a national security and regional security menace while Jonathan fiddled.”
APC Presidential campaign spokesman insisted that Boko Haram terrorists are no longer a group that President Jonathan and those who work with him can handle, saying that a new and committed leader is needed.
“This is made more necessary because the terrorists have been holding more than 200 Nigerian school girls hostage for several months and has taken over chunks of the nation’s territory, without a whimper from the “happy-go-lucky” government of President Goodluck Jonathan.”
He argued that if in the past five years, the Boko Haram has transformed while Jonathan made empty promises, “pray, how can such a leader make any difference in another four years? The most likely scenario if Jonathan is given another four years in office is that the terrorists would effortlessly take over the entire country.” [myad]